


I'll Be There For You

by therunawaypen



Series: 00Q Tumblr Prompt Fills [45]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Possibly Unrequited Love, Songfic, friends - Freeform, maybe requited love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-01 21:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1048637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/therunawaypen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Q share a flat and try and survive their dull average lives. Being such good friends makes things easier.</p><p>Inspired by the FRIENDS theme song</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Hey. Can you do me a song 00Q prompt? I have been listening to the friends theme song a lot and think it would make a funny story. Thanks! :)" -R

“I hate my life!”

James didn’t so much as flinch as Q slammed the door to their flat behind him. He was used to outbursts like this. So instead, he turned the page of his book, “I take it the date didn’t go well.”

Q huffed, throwing himself on the couch, “The guy was a complete jerk. Not to mention that, but he was already married with three kids.”

“And you figured this out…how?” James looked up, watching Q.

Q shrugged, “I may have checked his phone. His wife had text him saying that little Timmy was sick and if he could pick up milk on the way home.”

James winced, “I take it you didn’t stay for dessert?”

There was a pause, “…I may have waited until he paid for dinner before leaving.”

It took all of five seconds before James began laughing. After a moment, Q began laughing as well.

“You’re something else, Q.” James shook his head, “Why don’t you pick out a movie while I get the ice cream out of the fridge?”

“You read my mind, James!” Q smiled, kicking off his shoes.

 

**So no one told you life was gonna be this way**

**Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.**

**It's like you're always stuck in second gear**

**When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but**

**I'll be there for you**

**(When the rain starts to pour)**

**I'll be there for you**

**(Like I've been there before)**

**I'll be there for you**

**('Cause you're there for me too)**

There were days when James absolutely hated his job. Granted, that was most days, but there were days when he _really_ hated his job.

Such as when he was running late. Really late.

“Damn it!” James growled, throwing himself out of bed. He’d have to skip his morning shower and most likely breakfast as well if he wanted to keep his job (which he really didn’t, but he wanted to keep the paycheck).

Throwing on his uniform as fast as he could (he really hated working in security), James ran to the kitchen to see what he could eat on the run.

There was a plate with buttered toast on it next to a to-go mug of James’s favorite smoothie (not that he would _ever_ admit that he absolutely loved Peach Mango Tango). There was even a packed lunch next to both of them, with a note taped to it.

_There was a three car pile-up on the highway, took out the phonelines. I suggest you use this as your excuse. Have a good day (or not and you can bitch about it tonight)! ~Q_

**You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight**

**You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great**

**Your mother warned you there'd be days like these**

**But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees and**

**I'll be there for you**

**(When the rain starts to pour)**

**I'll be there for you**

**(Like I've been there before)**

**I'll be there for you**

**('Cause you're there for me too)**

They had been best friends since before they could walk. It had been James who had given Q his nickname (because his real name was far too hard for a toddler to pronounce, and Q had taken to the moniker like a duck to water). They had done everything together, sharing a flat seemed like it was just the natural progression in their relationship.

It was the thought of relationships that had James’s stomach in knots. Q’s taste in men…well to be blunt, was garbage. James always hated the men Q went on dates with, and he always knew it wouldn’t end well.

Poor Q just couldn’t find a long term boyfriend. The longest had lasted three weeks before breaking Q’s heart. James had held Q while he cried for four hours after that.

James himself didn’t date. Q would tease him about it, sometimes calling him asexual, but that wasn’t the case. He knew when people were attractive, he just…didn’t want to connect to any of them. He tried to tell himself that there was a great mystery to this, but as he looked at Q sitting next to him on the couch, he knew he was lying to himself.

But what they had, an intimate friendship with nights spent having movie marathons and eating baked goods while complaining about their average lives…it was good.

James could live with it. Q made his average life better.

**No one could ever know me**

**No one could ever see me**

**Seems you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me**

**Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with**

**Someone I'll always laugh with**

**Even at my worst, I'm best with you, Yeah!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey dear, any chance you could write a second part to the Friends song fic?" —hedwig-dordt

James knew from the moment the front door to their flat slammed open and shut at 8 in the evening that Q’s date had not gone well. What _good_ date ended at 8 at night (with the exception of lunch dates that ended very well)? Of course, James’s suspicions were confirmed when Q stormed into the living room and threw himself onto the couch face first.

“I take it your date with Raoul didn’t go well?” James asked. The question was more of a formality than anything else, since he already knew the answer. It was more of an invitation for Q to vent about his piss poor love life.

“He dumped me.” Q groaned, lifting his head enough to form a coherent sentence, “He called me out to a date _just to dump me_.”

James winced, “Ouch…” He looked over at Q, “I don’t suppose he at least had the guts to give you a reason, did he?”

Q looked at James, frowning, “He said he needed someone more on his level. What the hell does that even _mean_?”

“It means he’s an idiot and an arse.” James shook his head, getting up from his chair, “Have you eaten?” he asked, moving to the kitchen.

“No…” Q replied weakly, moving to a sitting position on the couch.

It was a tone James was familiar with when it came to Q. It would usually happen after Q got dumped by a guy he had really enjoyed dating…James hated it when Q would make that tone. “What sounds good: Chinese, Thai, or a pizza?” James grabbed the phone and began sorting through the take-out menus they kept by the phone.

Q groaned, “God, Chinese please.” He got up, “I’m changing into my pajamas, and I’m not going to leave this flat for days.” With that, Q made his way to his room, to change most likely.

James chuckled softly, dialing the number for their favorite Chinese restaurant. “Do you want the Orange or the Sweet and Sour Chicken?”

“Both!”

A smile tugged on James’s lips, “Chow mein or fried rice?”

“Both!”

Now James was laughing, “Should I order the entire menu?”

“Well I don’t know what you’re going to be eating, but I intend to eat my weight in greasy Chinese food and down at least two of those bottles of Pinot Grigio that you’ve been hoarding!” Q came out of his room, dressed in sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

James rolled his eyes, “You and I both know that _you_ hoard the Grigio and _I_ hoard the Jack Daniels.”

“Yeah, well,” Q flopped back on the couch, “I might go through a bottle of _that_ too.”

With a shake of his head, James placed their order for the Chinese delivery. On nights like this, James knew what Q needed was an ear to talk to and a shoulder to cry on (the tears would come after a few glasses of wine or Jack, depending on the mood).

Q sighed, “Come on James, say it.”

James raised an eyebrow, “Say what?”

““I told you so.” I know you’ve been dying to say it ever since I started dating Raoul.” Q rubbed his temples.

It was true, James had never liked Raoul, he always struck James as a narcissist. And he had told Q so after meeting the other man. Q had ignored him of course.

But what Q didn’t know was that James hated all of Q’s boyfriends. In the beginning, James had tried to convince himself it was because none of Q’s boyfriends were good enough for him (which was largely true, Q had a bad habit of falling for the worst men). But when Q _did_ find those rare gems of truly stellar men and James _still_ didn’t like them and worse, internally celebrated whenever the relationship failed for whatever reason, James realized there was more to what he was feeling.

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Q.” James said softly.

Q smiled gently, “I know you wouldn’t. And maybe one of these days I’ll start listening to your advice.”

James hadn’t thought of the best way to address the problem of feelings as of yet. And until he found the best way to go forth with his relationship with Q (or not, considering the situation), James was more than willing to remain the best friend.

James didn’t mind paying for their Chinese dinner (he had just gotten a bonus from his job, so he had a little cash to burn), nor did he mind when Q took the cartons of Orange Chicken and the Sweet and Sour Chicken and emptied them both into a large popcorn bowl ( a habit had he had developed when they were in university together—Q often said he didn’t like having to switch between cartons, he’d like to be able to enjoy both types in the same bite if he could). This night was about Q, after all, and James was playing the supporting role.

And if, after Q had finished his first bottle of Pinot Grigio and crumbled into a sobbing mess crying into James shoulder, James held him with all the comfort he could as a best friend…and maybe a bit more…

It was his little secret.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [What if Skyfall Were a Sitcom?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1062547) by [wyomingnot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyomingnot/pseuds/wyomingnot)




End file.
